2.4 What strategies will you use to deliver these outcomes?

Use the business model (figure 4) and compliance model (figure 2) to shape your compliance strategies.

The strategies need to influence taxpayers' willingness to comply (moving them down the compliance pyramid where necessary), sustain or lock-in future compliance and optimise voluntary compliance.

Identify the specific compliance strategies you will use to address the risk and move towards the desired outcomes.

The detailed strategies will need to be developed outside the workshop environment.

Strategies will usually be different, depending on who you are targeting and the drivers of their behaviour, as these are your key leverage points for changing behaviour.

Ensure your strategies address all the target groups and the drivers of their behaviour.

Generally, there should be a mix of strategies - help and education, verification and enforcement.

Help and education strategies should be used to ensure that people understand their rights and obligations, making it easier for them to comply.

Verification and enforcement strategies should be used to deter, detect and deal with non-compliance.

Co-designing products and processes with the relevant groups can also ensure that they meet taxpayer and ATO needs, that your strategies are relevant to the taxpayers' circumstances, and are pitched appropriately.

Ensure each success goal has at least one corresponding strategy to deliver that goal.

Don't be limited to what you currently do or what you think is within the capacity of the ATO to deliver.

Your business line executive area or Risk Management Committee will have the final say on what strategies are implemented.

Anticipate any unintended consequences that might arise and be ready with strategies to address those that are significant.

A risk that shifts as a result of your compliance strategies and affects other aspects of the target groups' compliance behaviour, or the compliance behaviour of taxpayers outside the target groups, is an unintended consequence.

Example of an unintended consequence

Targeting claims for 'work-related travel expenses' may lead to taxpayers shifting their claims to 'other work-related expenses', which is a different item on the return form.

FIGURE 4: Business model

At the end of phase 2, you need to revisit the questions within this phase and in phase 1 to refine your answers and check that they align with each other, and with the our intent.

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